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William Preston Johnston 






Character Sketch 



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Prepared 

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the Oass of 

1852 

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Yale University 

by 

Rev. Jacob Cooper 







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William Preston Johnston 



Character Sketch 117 



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Prepared 

for 

the Class of 

1852 

in 

Yale University 

by 

Rev. Jacob Cooper 



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WILLIAM PRESTON JOHNSTON. 



If intense love for the subject unfits one to draw a char- 
acter sketch, then William Preston Johnston could have no 
biographer. For no writer could describe a life without 
acquaintance .with it, and no one could know our friend 
without such love for him as would bethought to warp the 
judgment in portraying his character. But possibly the 
consciousness of such feeling might keep the writer on his 
guard, and let fairness draw the picture without exagger- 
ation. 

There is another and still greater difificulty. Only the 
like can appreciate the like at its proper value, or de- 
scribe in adequate terms; and so, if this principle be ad- 
hered to rigorously, our friend could have no biography. 
For he stands out uniciue in the estimation of those who 
have been near him in his youth, in the maturity of his 
strength, and when he bravely struggled, as he did during 
all his later years, with harassing weakness. iVt every 
period of his life, in every field of work, and under most 
chang^ing conditions, there was no variation in the unselfish 
pursuit of what is true, beautiful, and good. The noble 
aims with which he was always actuated were sanctified by 
a faith in the Divine Presence which never doubted the 
final outcome, and which made him as courageous when 
all seemed to oppose as when his road lay through the 
clear sunlight of God's favor. 

President Johnston had every advantage of birth. He 
was allied by blood with more high-born and excellent 
people than almost any other person who has lived in 



4 IVilliani Preston JoJuis/on. 

our country. So many pure strains met in him tliat, liad 
he been disposed to glory in his lineage, his claim would 
have been readily recognized by all those who were privi- 
leged to know the man himself. vSuch an origin is prone 
to make men haughty in feeling, and can scarcely fail to 
render them occasionally overbearing and disagreeable in 
intercourse with their inferiors. This may, without offense, 
be noted as a trait of many Southern gentlemen, who are 
pardoned for their pride of lineage because of the nobility 
of their actions. 

All the benign fairies stood around our friend's cradle 
from his birth, and the air of cultured society fanned him 
while he lived. But he rose superior to the temptation to 
rest upon a position assured to him l)y nature. There was 
too much real greatness in his make-up to need any adven- 
titious help, or be weakened by the false assumptions of an 
aristocrat. Nay, rather, this greatness was rendered attrac- 
tive by the culture and polish which high birth and elegant 
snrroundings are wont to develop. For these enabled him 
to exert his powers to the utmost by a recognized claim of 
equality with the highest; while his courtesy and freedom 
from ostentation gave him easy control over those who 
might be thought his inferiors. In this way the circum- 
stances of his birth, like all other advantages in the case of 
a strong nature, were turned to the best uses, and helped to 
round out that character which those who were in closest 
touch with him thought to be faultless. 

The life of Mr. Johnston is naturally divided into three 
periods: — 

Firs/. His birth, early education, and employments up 
to the War of Secession. 

Second. His share in that war. 

TJiird. His work as an Educator. 

It neither comes into the scope of the writer's purpose 
to portray the second period, except in the most general 



Ijyiliaul Preston J alius ton. 5 

way, nor is he competent for such a task. But it is perti- 
nent to say, that Colonel Johnston entered into that move- 
ment with a good conscience and perfect honesty, as he 
did every act of his life. And it is also proper to add, that 
his conduct while thus engaged secured the unbounded 
confidence and lasting affection of all his companions in 
arms with whom he came in contact. By descent and in- 
stinct, he had the qualities of a soldier; and by education 
and temper, he was fitted to act in the highest capacity in 
the Confederate army. He knew every prominent man in 
the South; he was the equal of any in birth and culture; 
he was adapted for the most delicate and trustworthy com- 
munications between the chief and all subordinate officers. 
It is safe to assert, that there was not another man in the 
South so fitted, from every point of view, as he, to serve as 
the aide and confidential secretary of Mr. Davis during the 
trying ordeal through which that leader passed — particu- 
larly during the waning fortunes of the Lost Cause. For 
he was able, by a marvelous tact, which directed the high- 
est executive talents, joined to honesty and singleness of 
purpose never excelled, to win the confidence and love of 
that immense body of able men who proved their integrity 
by their sufferings and losses in behalf of a hopeless cause. 
Nor is it out of place to say, that the writer, though as de- 
voted in feeling to the fortunes of the North as his friend 
was to the South, loved and honored him as fervently as 
he did any one of his own partisans. Moreover, had we 
met in conflict, — which a merciful Providence averted, — 
life might have been sacrificed, but mutual love would not 
have been chilled. 

Mr. Johnston suffered greatly in person and estate dur- 
ing this unnatural conflict. He lost his father. General 
Albert Sidney Johnston, to whom he was devotedly at- 
tached. He lost his property through the same processes 
which beggared so many well-to-do and even wealthy 



6 William Preston Johnston. 

Southerners. He lost his health by severe attacks of dis- 
ease incident to army life and most likely aggravated by 
imprisonment. It is certain that Mr. Johnston, though he 
lived nearly forty years subsequently and did enough work 
to fill the lives of half a dozen men, yet was a constant suf- 
ferer from chronic disease and weakness which were then 
engendered. 

While his services in the war of secession may be con- 
sidered as an episode, they were influential in the forma- 
tive period of his life. They contributed greatly to the 
fitness for his work as the founder of a university of unmeas- 
ured influence, and as the leading educator of the South. 
But this period, though filled with work, constitutes, at 
most, only five of the nearly seventy years of his life ; and 
hence, in itself, is of small moment compared with the 
achievements by which he will be best known in history. 
At the same time it is not the purpose to belittle his ser- 
vices during this trying ordeal. Those five years were 
most rich to all who jeoparded their lives or gave their last 
measure of devotion to the cause of either section. Men 
lived rapidly tlien, and made history for themselves and 
for the world at a tremendous rate. No doubt the varied 
responsibilities and delicate relations which his position 
involved broadened his character and sharpened his intel- 
lect, as well as cultivated those executive powers so soon 
to be called into requisition as an educator and the organ- 
izer of educational methods. For the man who is bent on 
doing good work as the sole task of life, will be helped to 
understand and grapple with that task by every species of 
service he is called to render God or man. Hence, no 
doubt, the delicacy of his tact in dealing with the complicated 
interests and varying tempers of men which were involved 
in founding a system of education substantially new in the 
South, was in some measure due to the rare exercise of his 
talents as the factotum in Jefferson Davis's military family. 



Ullliaui Preston JoJinstoii. 7 

William Preston Johnston was born, Jannary 5, 1831, at 
Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of Colonel Albert 
Sidney Johnston of the United States Army, afterwards 
General in the Confederate forces, and Henrietta Preston, 
dauofhter of General William Preston. His father was at 
that time in active service in the regular army, and as such 
liable to constant removals through the exigencies of his 
military life. His mother died when he was four years 
old. W^ith the exception of this time, his childhood and 
youth were passed under the care of his maternal relatives : 
first, with his aunt, Mrs. Rogers, and afterwards with his 
uncle. General William Preston. He attended the schools 
of Louisville; the Academy of S. V. Womack at Shelby- 
ville, Ky.; the Western Military Academy, at Georgetown, 
Ky., and, for about a year, Centre College, at Danville. 
While here he was the subject of deep religious impres- 
sions during one of the revivals which so frequently at- 
tended the preaching of the President of the College, the 
saintly and gifted John Clarke Young. These impressions 
remained with him through life. F'or while he did not 
often talk about religion, he practiced its teachings con- 
stantly, and showed by his actions and his habitual tem- 
per, that he lived "as seeing Him who is invisible." Hence 
his life everywhere and always was a testimony for God, 
and for all that our holy religion means to those who use 
this world as not abusing it. 

During this period, that is until he was twenty, he made 
many changes, and seems to have had little, if any, real 
home life. The loss of his mother when he was at a ten- 
der age, and the consequent lack of home influence, — since 
his father's army service precluded a settled household, — 
was a sad experience to a man of his intense family affec- 
tion. But this strong characteristic was manifested de- 
spite his unsettled home, and remained one of his marked 
traits through life. And his educational course was dur- 



8 Williani Preston Johnston. 

ing this period equally unsettled. But he had a substra- 
tum of character strong enough to retain its individuality 
amid so many vicissitudes, nay, rather, in his case, this 
seeming irregularity proved to be the proper educational 
process for a thoroughly diversified discipline to fit him for 
his future work. For thus he gained power by every kind 
of experience so as to be able to impress every sort of men 
to work submissively under his guidance. 

This unsettled course of training, which he had the as- 
similative force to make a factor of strength rather than, 
as with weaker characters, a dissipation of native energy, 
came to an end when he entered the Junior Class at Yale, 
late in the winter of 1850. Here he found a system of 
education the most steady and conservative in the whole 
country ; presided over by a man who possessed the very 
highest scholarship, and was at the same time an execu- 
tive the most energetic, pushing, and progressive. Yale 
was then a college where all that was best in the way of 
high scholarship, permeated with Puritanic severity of dis- 
cipline and orthodoxy of religious faith, was working out 
its fairest results. This, moreover, was the time when the 
old college curriculum, with its fixed routine of studies, 
was yielding to the demands of the elective system, and 
thus expanding to give entrance to the real university. 
The influences of this transition period at Yale wrought 
powerfully on Mr. Johnston, and others, associated with 
him in study, who were destined to effect the most far-reach- 
ing influence in the university systems of our country. 

In coming to Yale, Air. Johnston came back to his own 
ancestral people. His grandfather had removed to Ken- 
tucky from Salisbury, Connecticut : at which place, and 
close by, in Duchess County, New York, the family had 
resided ever since its migration from Scotland early in the 
eighteenth century. By intermarriage there, and by resi- 
dence among and alliance with the best people of the South, 



IJ^illiaDi P)-csloit JoJnistoii. g 

the family had engrafted all that is noble and chivalrous in 
this character upon the hardy primitive stock. The Cava- 
lier and Roundhead were combined in his person as per- 
haps in no other man of our country. The harder and more 
forbidding features of the Puritan, in his deep though silent 
religious fervor, were clothed by the elegant, genial, and 
sunny traits of the Southern planter, — a combination as de- 
lightful to his friends, as it must have been happy to himself. 

jNIr. Johnston joined a class which contained many men 
of marked intellectual force and executive ability, such as 
Crapo, Gilman, McCormick, not to mention others. There 
were many who had had the careful training of the best 
New England preparatory schools, and by their two years 
of college work together had acquired a class spirit and 
unity of action which was of a permanent type, and to 
which those who entered, as he did, upon advanced stand- 
ing, were compelled in some degree to conform. But he 
had enough of the personal equation to assimilate what was 
good, and resist whatever could give a wrong trend to 
one who sought only that which is best in everything. He 
found at Yale a rigid discipline, administered by an un- 
bending will in President Woolsey, — a man who had so 
much goodness and wisdom that his course of action, if 
inflexible, was nearly, if not always, right. And the im- 
press which this prince among educators left on his pupils 
was not lost on Mr. Johnston, and was a new factor in his 
preparation for his life-work. 

It is a remarkable fact, that the founders of three great 
universities of our country, which, like that of Berlin, 
started out at once as thoroughly equipped teaching pow- 
ers, were here together at the same time. Two of them. 
Presidents Gilman and Johnston, were members of the same 
class; and President White, of the next; while all three were 
brought into the closest companionship by becoming mem- 
bers of the same senior fraternity. We have no other exam- 



lo William Preston JoJuistoii. 

pie in our country, nor, in fact, in the world, of three great 
universities being founded severally, and fully equipped, 
by the genius respectively of three men, undergradu- 
ates and companions at one time and in the same college. 
Nothing at Oriel College in its palmiest days of Whately, 
Keble, and Newman, can parallel this. There are other 
universities which have been founded in great measure by 
the genius of a single individual ; but they have not showed 
at once that maturity of organization and permanency of 
movement, whatever they may subsequently effect. i\nd 
there are other great institutions like Michigan, Columbia, 
Pennsylvania, which have exhibited marvelous expansion 
under the guidance of experienced organizers like xA.ngell, 
Low, and Pepper. But they had powerful nuclei as foun- 
dations whereon to build. They and others have done ad- 
mirably, and the world gives them unstinted praise for 
their work. But Oilman, Johnston, White, created their 
corporations de nin'o^ and inspired into them the breath of 
life. Their work was original, — each on his own lines, 
each to suit the peculiar .(,'77/ ///jr loci^ — while cosmopolitan 
enough to assimilate the best influences from every quar- 
ter, and adapt them to the diversified needs of a world-wide 
clientage. Each combined conservatism with radicalism ; 
"each looked backwards and forwards, so that there might 
be the very best things." ^ 

Mr. Johnston's course was marked from the start. When 
students join an advanced class in an institution where the 
requirements are rigorous, the newcomer is likely to be some- 
what hampered by an inadequate, or at least unequal, prepar- 
ation. Though this was his case, he quickly rose superior 
to all handicaps. His power as ,a writer was assured at 
once, and was maintained with increasing reputation until 
the end; as shown by prizes for writing and speaking. 

\eva<X€i, oTTws 6x' dpt-c^T"- . . yifrirai. — Iliad, iii. 109, 1 10. 



William Preston JoJinstoii. ii 

There was an inimitable grace and smoothness, embodying 
at the same time clearness, of diction, which could not be 
misunderstood, and a vigor in style which forestalled oppo- 
sition. His scholarship, which had been somewhat inac- 
curate, owing to his frequent change of schools, now became 
more thorough under such sticklers for accuracy as Wool- 
sey, Thatcher, and Hadley ; and his range of study, which 
had already been wide, was much extended during his res- 
idence at Yale. While he was not a hard reader, a /'i:?/^, 
to use the college slang, he did what is far better: he mas- 
tered the spirit of the authors he studied ; making their 
thoughts his own, and assimilating their substance, to be 
digested by his native powers. He also found time, after 
doing his work well, to mingle freely in society, for which 
he had the culture, and by his family affiliations possessed 
the entree to all that was desirable either in New Haven or 
New. York. It was a marvel to his intimate friends how, 
amid all his duties to the college requirements, he could 
find time for so much social intercourse. He appeared 
even then to have grasped the just medium for a scholar 
who must also be a man of affairs: that is, to give the right 
proportion of time to each line of duty. For the college 
man must be a student, else he has no business to be there. 
Yet if he is a student of books exclusively, he will find his 
knowledge practically useless when he comes to deal with 
the real world, since he will not have learned its applica- 
tion. And herein we see the explanation of the fact that 
so many men of high scholarship prove to be failures when 
they come to grapple with the realities of practical life. 
They may know books, but they do not know men; while 
all classified knowledge, to become effective, must be em- 
ployed through the living instrument. Despite the con- 
siderable time spent by Mr. Johnston in social life and his 
somewhat desultory preparation, he was able to master all 
his college work with gratifying success. For he won a 



12 JVilliafii Preston Jolniston. 

high grade among his many able and ambitions competi- 
tors; as high a grade as was permitted by the strict nsages 
of Yale, in the case of those who enter as late as the middle 
of Jnnior year. 

No man with Mr. Johnston's native goodness and nnsel- 
fishness, and possessed of his gracions demeanor, conld fail 
of being popular with his instructors and fellow-students. 
To effect this there must not only be attractive qualities to 
win esteem, but also tact to avoid giving offense. For stu- 
dent life offers its subjects and occasions for spirited strife, 
even though they seem trivial to outsiders, and are vanish- 
in? fractions to the graduate in after davs. But matters of 
contention everywhere excite strife ordinarily in inverse 
proportion to their magnitude. Especially when persons are 
closely banded together by their occupations, and accord- 
ingly excluded from the great world, such small matters 
assume a factitious importance, and lead to quarrels and 
enmities quite as bitter as those found in other walks of life. 
Rut Mr. Johnston had the rare tact, not only to keep out of 
strife himself, but also to be a peacemaker among warring 
brethren. He was brave not to rashness, but with the ra- 
tional courage which meets danger only when there is an 
adequate ground for exposing one's self to peril. At the 
same time he had such a winning way, and so much good 
sense in dealing with contention, that he could always 
calm it to peace. He believed that men could differ with- 
out getting angry ; or could get angry without losing con- 
fidence in each other's honesty, and hence still retain 
mutual respect. For there are two sides to most questions, 
and a variety of ways, depending on the personal equation, 
of judging of the evidence which these ways present; so that 
men may dift'er without prejudice and be partisans with- 
out rancor. He was a young man of very aristocratic bear- 
ing, but this was natural to his birth and surroundings. Yet 
this did not prevent him froiu treating all his fellow-stu- 



J I 'i Ilia)) I P)'csto)i JoJi)isto)i. 13 

dents with equal courtesy, whether rich or poor ; of city or 
rustic culture. The writer saw much of him durinof this 
period. We entered the Junior class at the same time. We 
belonged to the same Greek Letter society during Junior 
year, and the same fraternity while Seniors. With the best 
opportunities for knowing, we are sure that he treated the 
man who was humblest socially with as much respect and 
courtesy as one that properly belonged to his own circle; and 
was in turn loved equally well by him. For Mr. Johnston 
was indeed loved by his fellow-students; both then, and 
ever since. The feeling did not stop short at respect, albeit 
his person and abilities were adapted to inspire this in full 
measure. He overflowed with animal spirits; took his full 
share of life's enjoyments, illustrating the motto of Goethe: 
"Im ganzen Guten Schonen, Resolut zu leben." He felt 
that the best preparation for usefulness and happiness is to 
live up to the highest possibilities of to-day. In all that 
related to college life, in loyalty to his Alma Mater, and 
sympathetic interest in the fortunes of his classmates, Mr. 
Johnston was an ideal student. The time which tried the 
souls of men of the two sections, which caused so many 
estrangements among previous friends, did not change his 
feeling for those whom he opposed politically or on the 
field of battle. There was a principle of nobility and 
Christian faith in him which rose above the vicissitudes 
of this life, and found its anchorage where the peace of 
Eternity reigns. 

Mr. Johnston left college with the reputation of a highly 
talented and cultured man, of whom the world was soon to 
hear a good account. Immediately after graduation, he 
began the study of law, at Louisville, Ky., which was his 
home more than any other place, and where he proposed 
to fix his residence for the future. In less than a year after 
his graduation at Yale, that is from the end of July, 1852, 
to the end of March, 1853, which time he devoted to pro- 



14 William Preston Johns/ on. 

fessional study, he was graduated from the Law School 
of Louisville University, and admitted to the bar. At 
once he began the practice of this profession for which he 
had a manifest adaptation. His mind was eminently judi- 
cial. Calm, self-possessed, of clear judgment and native 
eloquence, he had all the qualities fitting a man for suc- 
cess as an attorney, a counsellor, or a judge. He was a 
graceful and fluent speaker, and his transparent honesty 
carried conviction to the mind of judge and jury alike. 
Hence the fact of his being retained in a case went far 
toward securing a decision in his favor. His large and in- 
fluential connection in Kentucky, and, we may say, in all 
the South, secured for him a clientage ; and, this being 
backed up by elegant culture, he had every encouragement 
in his chosen work. A career of the most honorable sort 
was inviting him to enter in and occupy. Either legal 
practice, politics, or the bench offered him assured success. 
He did not cease to study law when admitted to the bar. 
And this certainly was necessary, if he expected to mas- 
ter the wide field before him. For his professional novi- 
tiate had been very short — too short, we think, for his 
best interests; certainly too brief for those less gifted than 
himself. But such was the usage at this time in Ken- 
tucky, and most of the Southwestern States. A student 
could gallop through Blackstone, glance at Kent's Com- 
mentaries, put a half-dozen state codes on his shelves, and 
go to pettifogging — if any client would hazard a case in 
his hands ! But Mr. Johnston was wise enough to know 
that he had but just begun the study of a profession which 
demanded patient industry continued through a lifetime, 
and acted accordingly. 

During the latter part of his college course, Mr. Johnston 
became engaged to Miss Rosa Elizabeth Duncan, of New 
Orleans, who spent much of her time in New Haven, where 
the acquaintance was formed with her future husband. In 



IVillia))! Pre sf 0)1 JoJmsfon. 15 

July, 1853, they were married at New Haven; which 
union was productive of great happiness until her death, 
October 19, 1885, A large family of children were born 
to them, forming a household held together by the tender- 
est affection. ]\Ir. Johnston now settled at Louisville, and 
was able to enjoy that which he had never yet known, a 
home of his own — a blessing which he had intensely de- 
sired, and for which he had the most pronounced qualities 
of mind and heart. He remained at Louisville from 1852 
till 186 1, with frequent business visits of greater or less 
length to New York City, where the legal interests as 
well as the commerce of our nation centers. No doubt, 
had the country remained at peace, he would have gravi- 
tated to this city, unless he had been elevated to the bench, 
for which he had the requisites in an eminent degree. In 
purity and simplicity of character, in gentle firmness and 
judicial poise, he resembled that greatest of judges among 
the sons of men, — John Marshall ; and qualities so con- 
spicuous would most likely have pointed him out for the 
ermine. 

But the muttering-s of sectional discord were increasino- 
in intensity, presaging the earthquake which must come 
to spend the forces which had been gathering since the 
LTnion was formed. For there was a disturbing element 
which would not be quieted, nor allow the different sec- 
tions to be at peace. The one section thought slavery the 
sum of all villainies : a misnomer in a free government, 
and an anachronism in history. The other saw in it 
a domestic institution which had grown up with our 
people; had become fixed in our political system while we 
were yet a part of the mother country; had been guaran- 
teed by solemn compacts between the several States, and 
by the Constitution of the Union. It was, moreover, looked 
upon as the proper form of labor suited to the climate and 
productions of the South ; and was believed by many good 



i6 William Presto)i Johnston. 

people to be the best means, when practiced with human- 
ity, of elevating the savages of Africa and fitting them for 
the blessings of Christian civilization. It is not the pres- 
ent purpose to say which view was the correct one ; but we 
have no hesitancy in declaring that good men and women 
held diametrically opposite views, and both with equal 
honesty, in the two sections. This fact rendered compro- 
mise impossible; and the logic of events — which works 
with a power that no human wisdom or energy can with- 
stand — was reasoned to its inevitable conclusion; and the 
result was a determination, on the part of those States 
where slavery was most strongly intrenched, to secede. 
And when this result could be staved off no longer, Mr. 
Johnston, who had interests and affiliations of blood both 
North and South, deemed it is his duty to ally his fortunes 
with that section where he was born and had lived. Though 
the reasons and motives which led to this step were never 
discussed between us — no doubt from a mutual desire to 
avoid a possible breach — still we feel assured that he did 
not take this momentous step without a careful considera- 
tion, and a conscientious regard for duty owed to God and 
man. One thing we do know, that after his dread appeal 
to the arbitrament of the sword had been taken, and the 
case was decided adversely to his views, he accepted the 
situation with frank and full acquiescence, and became 
once more, in heart and action, a citizen of the reunited, 
the whole country. 

But this is anticipating. As soon as it became manifest 
that civil war must come, Mr. Johnston accepted the tremen- 
dous issue with the calm earnestness of a noble nature that 
was a stranger to fear and discouragement. He began re- 
cruiting troops for the Confederacy ; secured several compan- 
ies for the Second Kentucky Regiment, of which he became 
successively Major and Lieutenant Colonel ; was transferred 
to the First Regiment, where he held the latter rank. He 



Win lain Preston JoJiustoii. ij 

saw much hard service in northern A'irghiia in 186 1 and 
1862. By exposure to hardships for which his slender 
physique was not fitted, he contracted typhoid pneumonia, 
and, after a desperate ilhiess which permanently shattered 
his constitution, which at best had been wiry rather than 
robust, he was left a martyr to a weak throat and chest. 
His sickness and the consequent weakness rendered it im- 
possible for him to endure regular field service, and would 
have justified his permanent retirement on the invalid list. 
But his spirit would not brook this inactivity. He would 
follow the fortunes of his section to the finish; and to util- 
ize his great and well-known powers to the utmost, he was 
taken into President Davis's military household, aud 
made his private secretary. But this post also included 
those multitudinous and varied services which are best de- 
scribed by the word Factotum. All agree that the duties 
which he had to perform here required rare shrewdness and 
suave firmness. For he had often to be the mediator be- 
tween his strong and imperious chief and the many subor- 
dinates who were both able and jealous. Besides, bitter 
animosities are always engendered by a failing cause, when 
each actor tries to find in his opponent the scapegoat for 
the sin of failure. But Colonel Johnston acted with such 
consummate tact that he secured here, as he had always 
done in every place, the respect and love of all with whom 
he acted. It is not extravagant to say that no other man 
in the Confederacy was as well fitted as he for the delicate 
post he held ; and that his services contributed more than 
any other single factor to delay as long as possible the inev- 
itable crash. He remained with his chief to the end ; was 
captured with Mr. Davis's military household, and suffered 
imprisonment with him — a fate which overtook Colonel 
Johnston simply because of his close connection with the 
Confederate President. 

Amid the wreckage caused by the Civil War to the 



1 8 William Preston Joluiston. 

South, Colonel Johnston fell, but he lit on his feet. He 
had lost his property, his business, his health, and his bod- 
ily constitution. He had lost everything but his integrity, 
his courage, and his friends. When he got out of Fort 
Delaware, and had spent some time in Canada, as an act of 
prudence during the period of exasperation following the 
tragic scenes connected with President Lincoln's deplora- 
ble assassination, he returned to find that his Northern 
friends who had known him before the war loved him as 
well as ever. He secured, through one of his classmates 
of influence at Washington, much legal work there; and 
his clients at Louisville had not forgotten him. His pros- 
pects were of the best for securing a lucrative legal prac- 
tice, but his health could not endure the strain which 
comes upon a successful lawyer. Hence, when his friend. 
General Robert E. Lee, became President of Washington 
and Lee University, and urged him to join the work of 
building up that institution, the real trend of his character 
asserted itself. He now accepted the chair of History and 
English Literature, for which he was both by culture and 
inclination preeminently fitted. He went to Lexington, 
Va., in 1867, and this brings us to the third period, that of 
his grand life-work, for which all his previous studies and 
experiences were simply preparatory. 

We now seeW'illiam Preston Johnston as the writer, the 
educator, and the organizer of educational systems with 
which his name will be inseparably connected in the his- 
tory of our country. His strong predilection for literary 
work and for speaking on educational matters had already 
shown itself in many brief pamphlets, and addresses before 
literary institutions. But he now undertook a work of far 
wider scope and much greater difficulty. This was the 
Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston, his father, who 
was undoubtedly the ablest commander in the Confederate 
forces after Lee ; and indeed many think him his equal. This 



William Preston JoJinston. 19 

biography was a work of extreme delicacy as well as diffi- 
culty. It covered a very recent period, in which there w-as 
room for the display of passions which had not had time to 
cool. General Johnston was killed at the Battle of Shiloh, 
and his death was, by not a few, considered the beginning 
of the end for the Confederacy. While there were many able 
generals in the Southern army besides Lee, and opinions 
differed as to their respective merits, the claim that General 
Johnston was the ablest and the palladium of the Confed- 
eracy was likely to be challenged in favor of others; more 
especially as the recrimination because of the collapse of 
the Secession naturally sought the grounds for failure, and 
claimed for each favorite the result of that mysterious and 
unknown "what might have been." It is not difficult, 
therefore, to see that Colonel Johnston's task was one re- 
quiring calm and impartial judgment; even though it had 
not been his father whose life he was writing. But this 
fact added tenfold to the difficulty. He was a man of ex- 
ceedingly warm family affections, and passionately attached 
to his father, whom alone of his parents he had been per- 
mitted to know, save as a very little child. He writes this 
life at a time when the inquiry "What has hurt us?" was 
a living and burning issue. Perhaps no greater ordeal 
could be endured by a son than under such circumstances, to 
write the life of a father. And surely no better test of del- 
icate tact and judicial fairness could be met, than to per- 
form this duty so as not merely to escape the censure of 
being prejudiced, but to secure the unanimous verdict from 
contemporaries, that he liad been in the high.est degree suc- 
cessful ! 

]Mr. Johnston had already gathered around himself ele- 
ments of strength which made him a leading factor in the 
education of our whole country. The best things were not 
only hoped, but confidently expected of him. He was 
known, loved, and honored, was welcomed wherever he 



20 Willia))! Presto)! JoJuistflJi. 

went with as much heartiness in the North, against which 
he had fought, as in the South, for which he had jeoparded 
his life, and lost all that a noble mau could lose. At this 
time Mr. Paul Tulane (whose name will stand out forever 
in the brilliant galaxy which includes Yale, Harvard, Dart- 
mouth, Brown, Rutgers, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Rocke- 
feller, Stanford, ....") was meditating the founding of 
a great university in the extreme South. He chose as 
the proper locality the commercial capital of the South, 
where he had made his fortune; a place near the mouth of 
the greatest river system in the world, and in the midst of 
a country whose fertility exceeds that of the Delta of 
Egypt. His selection of locality was preeminently wise, 
characteristic of the singularly cool and clear judgment for 
which this merchant prince was noted. He foresaw that 
New Orleans would more and more give direction to the 
movements of education for the whole of the Gulf States; 
which contain greater possibilities in the way of undevel- 
oped wealth tlian any other equal area in the world. Be- 
sides, this city, as the educational center for this section, as 
it has always been that of commerce, would be sought by 
students from Mexico, Central and South x\merica, with 
the West Indies, because of its cosmopolitan population 
and interests. But Mr. Tulane was wise, not only in the 
location of his projected university, but equally so in the 
selection of a man to organize the splendid foundation 
made possible by his munificence. x\fter careful reflection 
upon many possible administrators of his bounty, he settled 
upon Mr. Johnston, whom he knew already, and who was 
strongly endorsed by the Board he had named as the one 
who combined all the requisites for the organizer of a lit- 
erary institution of the first order. He had already, in 1880, 
become president of the Louisiana State Agricultural and 
Mechanical College, at Baton Rouge, which was doing a 
good work, though within narrow limits, but now, through 



Wil/iaiN Prcstou Johnston. 2i 

his wise management, was coming forward rapidly in im- 
portance, when Mr. Tnlane's gift for the establishment of a 
university was received in 18S3. l%e«-the-institntion at 
Bat«>«-R-onge and the old state nniverMty at New Orleans 
we*e-4fte0-r-pora-t^d together. Out of these different ele- 
ments united with IMr. Tulane\s foundation, an entirely 
new organization was perfected, so different in methods and 
so much wider in scope that it must be considered a wholly 
different enterprise. For it had all the features of an origi- 
nal--pkn, and was henceforth to take on such a form as the 
^genius of a president chose to give it. 

:Mr. Johnston was now fifty-two years old, in the full 
victor of his intellect, and with a more varied experience, 
we dare say, than could be found in any other citizen of 
our country. He had been tried in many forms of admin- 
istrative activity, legal, military, educational. He knew, 
from much service, both to command and to obey, to lead 
and to follow, to plan and to execute. His reputation for 
literature, for teaching, for delicate administration, was as 
marked as were his characteristics for dignity, grace, intel- 
lectual force, and unselfishness. His information on every 
subject of culture was truly encyclopedic, and could not fail 
of being known wherever he might be. No man ever con- 
versed with him in the most casual manner for five min- 
utes without being attracted by the indescribable charm, 
the/r lie sais qiioi\ of his intercourse. He constantly made 
friends, and never lost any. He made no enemies, and 
therefore had no occasion for explanations or apologies. 
His only drawback was his weak physique. The last period 
of his life, while beginning at the close of the Civil War, 
should really have for its commencement the time when he 
assumed the presidency of Tulane, and, may be reckoned 
at sixteen years. Into this brief period, and one which was 
hampered by constant ill health and filled with family be- 
reavements, was crowded the work of several active lives 



22 IVilliani Preston Johns ton. 

of full length. One cannot but conjecture how much 
greater would have been his services to the world, and how 
much more completely he would have organized a system 
for higher education in the South, had he possessed robust 
health and been allotted a longer life. 

He now appears in a new role, that of the founder and 
organizer of a great university. Here all the qualities of 
his philanthropic, executive, mental, and moral nature, 
are brought into requisition. His work required more wis- 
dom than the mere art of founding. But his exquisite tact 
and calmness of judgment were fully equal to the duties 
demanded of him, not only in disarming opposition, but 
also in winning the cordial support of those interests which 
were to be merged into the new enterprise. These quali- 
ties being recognized by IMr. Tulane, and his judgment in 
all matters pertaining to his work being approved by the 
Administrative Board, he was invested by the donor with 
plenary powers in the management of his munificent gift. 
Hence President Johnston was in reality, as well as in 
name, the creator of Tulane University. Here his real life- 
work began in earnest ; and this Institution is the monument 
which will remain, no doubt, for all time as the tangible 
expression of his genius and labors. Henceforth Mr. Johns- 
ton lived, wrought, prayed, and suffered, for Tulane. But 
it must not be understood that he took any less interest in 
the general work of education; for he was constantly en- 
gaged in writing, in lecturing, and participating in all 
sorts of movements for the advancement of culture. As a 
Regent of the Smithsonian Institute, he was brought in 
touch with, and helped to direct, the most important forces 
at work in behalf of the higher education. The Sophia 
Newcomb College for Women, which is, popularly speak- 
inof, a Female Annex of Tulane, owes to him its founda- 
tion and assured success. From Air. Johnston's wide re- 
lationships by blood, and his knowledge of all the leading 

LtfC, 



William Preston Johuston. 23 

factors in the movements of philanthropy and culture 
North and South, he was peculiarly fitted for advancing 
both male and female education. He thoroughly under- 
stood the wants of his twin institutions, because of his 
wide and hearty sympathy with their patrons, and knew 
where to apply for assistance. He was in close touch with 
the leading men of New Orleans, such as Dr. Palmer, T. 
G. Richardson, Senator Gibson, a near relative of his own. 
Judge Fenner, Justice White, James McConnell, — and could 
count on their energetic aid and wise judgment in carry- 
ing out his cherished purposes. Moreover, such was his 
hold upon the general community growing out of his 
transparent honesty, singleness of purpose, and unselfish- 
ness, that he could count on the full cooperation of the 
state authorities, no matter which political party might be 
in the ascendancy. For his reputation for integrity and 
clearness of judgment on all matters which claimed his at- 
tention were so well established that, no matter what might 
be the ill temper growing out of political excitement, he 
could carry a measure through any deliberative body, 
provided he was permitted to engineer it alone ! For all 
who heard a statement and knew the man who made it, 
were impressed with his thoroughgoing honesty, and con- 
vinced by the lucid arguments with which he advocated a 
measure. Thus he had practically carte lilanche for the 
realizing of his views in founding Tulane ; so that this 
University is perhaps more emphatically his exclusive 
creation than any other of our numerous colleges and uni- 
versities are of those great organizers whose names they 

bear. 

Hence it was felt by all who knew the real facts in- 
volved, that Mr. Johnston's life was a necessity to Tulane 
during its formative period. And, therefore the uncertain 
tenure by which he held to life, and the extreme weakness 
from which he suffered, kept his intimate friends in constant 



24 William Preston JoJuiston. 

anxiety. To say that he lived for fifteen years by force of 
will alone may seem extravagant to those who did not know 
his actual condition. Yet to such as witnessed the strue- 
gles through which his weak frame carried the burden of 
each University term, this will be recognized as a true 
statement. He was never free from pain a single hour 
during that long period. His paroxysms of coughing 
lasted from three to eight hours a day. They absorbed 
what to most men is that part which is desirable more than 
any other for work, i. e. the forenoon, and left him, if 
leave they ever did at all, well nigh in a collapse ; so weak- 
ened that death might come at any time from sheer ex- 
haustion. Yet from such protracted fits of coughing he 
would rally, to take up the burdens of the day. 

During this period Mr. Johnston was most acutely 
touched by affliction. From his intensely affectionate na- 
ture he depended, more than most persons, on the support 
of domestic ties, and the happiness growing out of family 
influences. Hence his bereavements were felt with pecu- 
liar anguish. First came the death of his only son, a young 
man of great promise, who died while employed at the 
steel works of our classmate. Colonel James McCormick, 
at Harrisburg, Pa. Next, the death of Mrs. Johnston, the 
wife of his youth, and the mother of his large family of 
children. Both were crushing blows. For the father 
greatly desired that the family name should be perpetuated 
by a son who would do credit to the noble ancestry. Mrs. 
Johnston was a woman of great force of character ; and 
from her wise, womanly care she was especially adapted to 
watch over an invalid companion. But though Mr. Johns- 
ton was for a time stunned by this bereavement, his reti- 
cent nature,- when there was any reference to self, pre- 
vented the public from seeing evidences of the great sor- 
row which lay heavy upon him ; and only a few intimate 
friends, who could read between the lines, were aware how 



ll^ilUcDii Preston JoJmsfoii. 25 

keenly he felt his loss. For his work was not in the least 
degree remitted. There was a cheerful exterior when deal- 
ing with the public ; and none who approached him for a 
favor could understand how much grief was beneath that 
smiling face, which lit up with all its former radiance 
when granting the asked-for kindness. And the loving 
Master whom he served did not forget him. There was a 
time of exquisite anguish to Abraham when he buried his 
dead Sarah out of his sight. There was a time of darkness, 
as of darkness itself, in the home circle, when the light of 
the household went out. But God who takes away the 
light at even causes the morning to spring again. 

After three years of desolation the home of Mr. Johnston 
is once more made bright by that which, next to the pres- 
ence of the Divinity, is the most joyous of earth's blessings. 
Miss Margaret Avery filled the vacant place, and made his 
home once more as fuUof all joy and sweetness as it had ever 
been. To her wise and unremitting care is due the pro- 
longation of his activity. She anticipated and met every 
want of this courageous but enfeebled toiler. Those who 
have been privileged to witness the unceasing care with 
which she followed his every movement, thank her for the 
years she added to his life and usefulness by the willing 
sacrifices she made for his joy and comfort. 

The cares and labors of j\Ir, Johnston after he went to 
New Orleans were incessant. Not merely the organiza- 
tion of the complicated scheme of a university in all its 
far-reaching and constantly expanding activities, but the 
details of the daily routine must be carefully scrutinized. 
The letter of inquiry from anxious parents ; the cases of 
discipline which must arise in any literary institution ; the 
selection of a corps of professors ; the supervision and 
friendly advice in the case of those called from abroad and 
who were strange to the genius loci — for each university 
has its own usages, and each community where one is lo_ 



26 JJl'/Iiaj>i Preston JoJnistoii. 

cated its peculiar temper and traditions — to give quiet sug- 
gestions to young and inexperienced instructors : all these 
things constitute a weight of labor and harassing details 
enough for the strongest and most elastic physique. How 
he did all this is certainly marvelous. P'or he attended to 
the minutest details belonging to his office himself. He 
had, it is true, the good sense to enlist a large body of able 
colleagues to carry out his views. All great organizers 
have this distinctive faculty of working through other 
minds, and of so impressing their own lines of policy upon 
those with whom they cooperate, that the force of the driv- 
ing wheel is distributed so appropriately that each cog and 
shaft seems to be acting by its individual behest. But 
though not present and seemingly not interfering, yet in 
reality the head examined every item of detail, and weighed 
its ultimate effects on the whole system. 

The correspondence which Mr. Johnston carried on was 
immense. Nor did he avail himself of an amanuensis, sec- 
retary, or typewriter, except in rare instances. The great 
burden of a correspondence, written out in full in a legible 
script, was carried by him to the last. We feel sure that 
nothing but Divine strength could enable our friend to 
sustain this heavy load. Well did he illustrate the utter- 
ance of the great Apostle, "When I am weak, then am I 
strong." During all these years of toil and weakness he 
maintained his habitual cheerfulness. Emphatically a do- 
mestic man, he had a strong liking, as well as exquisite 
adaptation, for .society. His powers for diversified action 
seemed to be unlimited in degree and kind. For he ap- 
peared to have time for everything and everybody. Never 
in a hurry; self-poised, sunny; he could go from a meet- 
ing of the Smithsonian Regents, from a conference with 
the city government, a committee meeting of the Governor 
and members of the State Legislature, or a protracted sit- 
ting of his Faculty ; from several of these in one day — to 



]]'illiai)i P>-cstoii Jo/ins/on. 27 

a social function in the elegant society for which New Or- 
leans is noted, and be the life and soul of an admirino- cir- 
cle. Nay, more; from a home very often darkened by 
bereavement, from the burial of an only son, from the bed- 
side of a daughter dying in a distant city, he would return 
and take up the burdens of life with the same single- 
hearted earnestness, as though no heart-strings had been 
broken. 

Thus it continued with him from the time of his dread- 
ful sickness in 1862 till his death; but more especially dur- 
ing the twent)' years preceding that e\'eut For a stranger — 
to meet with him casually, and particularly if this occurred 
during one of his paroxysms of coughing — would think 
that that weak and tired frame would soon rest in its long- 
sleep, instead of being the guiding power in founding a 
great university, and identified in an efficacious way with 
nearly every interest dear to Christian culture. The un- 
complaining cheerfulness with which he carried his bur- 
den and responded to the requests for help to carry those 
of other men, was indeed an argument for the reality of 
our holy religion more convincing than the most eloquent 
preaching. Here was before our eyes the embodiment of 
that utterance of the Son of man, "I came not to be min- 
istered unto, but to minister, and give my life a ransom for 
many." Surely, if to any mere man this utterance was 
appropriate, it was to him who, through weakness and suf- 
fering, effected so much that was wholesome in every 
sphere of our nature which he touched. 

During his last year at Tulane (1898-99) he grew much 
weaker even than he had been previously. vSuch was now 
his prostration that he was compelled to remain in bed 
nearly all of this time. But he did not cease to work. 
From that couch of pain still issued directions for the man- 
agement of Tulane, and wise directions in regard to each 
of the numerous interests with which he was identified. 



28 Wi/lia))i Preston Johusloii. 

beside long autograph letters to friends who had no other 
claim on his attention than that they loved him. He strug- 
gled through the year, presided at the Commencement ex- 
ercises in June, concluded his work in all departments, for 
this which was to be his last year, in his usual methodical 
manner. Then he set out for a retreat from the oppressing 
climate of New Orleans in summer, came north to visit his 
daughter in Pennsylvania, where he hoped by the high 
altitude and bracing air to recuperate, as he had often done 
before. But this time the hoped-for relief did not come. 
He grew still weaker, and with difficulty was removed to 
his beloved Lexington, Va., where he had spent so many 
happy years amid the exquisite scenery of this charming 
spot. He came to the home of another daughter, and for 
a short time seemed stronger. He was uncomplaining, 
cheerful, and even witty, as was his wont. The end came 
without premonition to himself or to those who watched 
beside his bed; and in the early morning of July i6, as the 
sun was peeping over the mountains and flooding the val- 
ley with light, he ceased to suffer. The great soul left its 
frail tabernacle, whereithad solong been keptin bonds, and 
went to that country where "the inhabitant shall no more 
say, I am sick, for the people who dwell therein are for- 
given their iniquities." ... I am distressed for thee, my 
Brother! Many of us who knew thee so well, and prayed 
so often for the prolongation of thy life that thou might- 
est see of the travail of thy soul for the complete organiza- 
tion and permanent equipment of Tulane, many of us 
would willingly have given our measure of days and health 
to thee for the accomplishment of that work which was so 
near thy heart ! But now, since our wish could not be 
granted, we can temper our sorrow only with the thought, 
that it was the joy of our life to have come in touch with 
thine! 

To sum up our sketch of this bright and helpful life: 



Wlllia))! Prcslon Johnston. 29 

Let us ask what lessons we can gain for our own conduct 
from Mr. Johnston's service to the world. It is true that 
few persons are so variously gifted, and enjoy so many so- 
cial advantages, or have such an encyclopedic experience. 
But others can, at least, try to copy his cheerfulness under 
sorrow and sickness; can make the most of what powers 
they possess by steady pursuit of dut)- for its own sake. 
They can take comfort from the thought that God, who is 
responsible for the issue, will make every faithful effort 
successful in his own time and way. It is not always the 
amount of work done that tells on the result, but the char- 
acter which is back of it, that gives efficiency ; so that the 
widow's mite may weigh more in the Divine balance than 
the wealth of the millionaire. ]\Ir. Johnston was so thor- 
oughly honest, so wholly free from crooked ways, that 
whatever he undertook secured favor from those who did 
not take the pains to investigate his methods, or had not 
the ability to comprehend them. In this way a noble char- 
acter lays all men under contribution. It utilizes the 
forces of ignorant though strong characters, and enlists the 
cooperation of those who are bad at heart, but who wish 
the reputation for integrity to effect ulterior aims. The 
good are willing to follow a leader who always strives to 
do right, and the bad are shamed into acquiescence by the 
force of public opinion ; and thus a noble character draws 
all influences into the wake of its pilotage. 

A second factor of his influence was his courtesy in 
speech and action. This indeed seemed native, springing 
from the goodness and elevation of his heart. He was 
popular in every age and position during life. In truth 
his character did not seem to be affected by considerations 
of time or place. He had the vivacity of youth and the 
wisdom of age at every period. This made him a favorite 
with young people, over whom he exercised a perfect witch- 
ery, without effort and, of course, unstudied. In his stu- 



30 William Preston Johnston. 

dent clays he was admired and loved by the humblest as 
warmly as by his own special coterie. This irresistible 
attractiveness was conspicuous in his management of stu- 
dents both at Lexington and New Orleans. X notable ex- 
ample was when there was a formidable rebellion at Tu- 
lane, which, for a time, threatened peril to the whole in- 
stitution. But he met the angry and desperate body of 
rebels with no sign of trepidation, and by a few firm but 
gentle words calmed all into cheerful obedience. He was 
not afraid of discipline, and those young men who were 
incorrigible — fortunately very few in any of our literary 
institutions — were dealt with summarily. For any good 
officer of the law knows that punishment, in order to effect 
its best results, must be summary in its execution and thor- 
ough in its reach. But sympathy with young men and 
whole-hearted devotion to their welfare prove such a po- 
tent factor in their control that punishment is rarely neces- 
sary. 

This heartfelt interest in the young made him popular 
with them wherever he might be. Tlie writer has had un- 
mistakable evidence of this fact. Not merely the students 
at Tulane, but young members of the teaching corps were 
completely under his guidance, and felt it their highest 
pleasure to carry out his wishes. So wherever lie met 
young men it became apparent at once that he secured their 
confidence and love. To them, as to all whom he met, his 
presence was a benediction, and his words were listened to 
with a respect bordering on veneration. 

But among all the qualities of our friend which we ad- 
mire, there was none more worthy of praise than his cheer- 
ful patience under the ravages of disease, and his resigna- 
tion to the Divine Will wlien touched by the most sorrow- 
ful bereavements. He never worked without intense pain 
in a body which constantly threatened to collapse from its 
weakness. His house was scarcely ever free from the 



WilliaDi Prcstou JoJuisloii. 31 

clouds of sorrow. The wife of his youth, his only son, 
and several daughters were taken from him during his 
protracted illness. Numerous kinsmen — for he had more 
relatives within the degrees of recognition, and a more- 
tender appreciation of these, than any other person we 
have known, — these, added to a countless array of loved 
friends, dropped by the way, leaving him almost alone in 
his generation. But he could hide his grief for these, how- 
ever deep it might be, when business called, or the claims 
of social life demanded ; and none but his closest friends 
would suspect what a burden he was carrying while he 
lived only to make others happy. 

In the midst of so much weakness and pain, and bur- 
dened by so many cares, he was yet constantly writing. 
Like many men of marked abilities from Socrates to 
Woolsey, he developed a poetical vein late in life. He 
heard the Divine voice saying: "Make music [i. e. poetrv], 
and exercise yourself with it."^ He published many short 
poems and made numerous versifications of Psalms. He 
composed hymns which have both the true ring of poetry 
and the spirit of devotion. His poem on "The Absolute," 
which he composed for the forty-fifth annual reunion of 
his class at Yale, rose to the highest sublimity; dealing 
with the profoundest problems of religion and philosophy. 
He stood like a grand old prophet as he unfolded the lea\es 
of destiny, and traced the threads of our life; not as spun 
by Lachesis, but by the wisdom and love of a Father who 
is weaving them into the web of immortality. Those who 
heard him read with tremulous voice will never forget the 
emotion which thrilled their souls at the grandeur and 
beauty of his thoughts, while gazing at the frail form 
which uttered them, and felt that this was the last time 
they would hear these loved tones on earth ! 

' o JL TTOT^ OLai/OTjOeh . . eTToirjaas aura, irpoTepov ovSlu TruiTrore TroLi^cras . . 
'i2 — co\"paTes, ((pv, fJ-ov(xiKrii> ttoUl kuI ipyd^'ov. — Plato's Phaedo, 60 D. 



^ 



32 IVilliani Preston Johnston. 



Is there anything to be desired for Mr. Johnston that he 
did not achieve? He wrought in ahnost every sphere of 
human interest, and- left an indelible impression for good by 
every act of his varied career. He founded one of the great 
universities of our country, which is destined to do more 
for his beloved South than any other' like institution will 
achieve for the section it represents. He fought in what he 
believed to be a righteous cause, and ennobled it in the esti- 
mation of those most opposed to his political views. He 
was always in the sunlight of publicity, yet never said a 
word or did an act which those who prized him most could 
wish had been omitted. He constantly breathed the air of 
our holy religion. He acted Christianity; manifesting its 
spirit even when not pronouncing its name; and proved to 
all who witnessed his life that he was quickened by its 
essence. He surrounded himself with an atmosphere of 
love on earth ; and now that he has passed from our sight, 
has merely crossed a line which is imperceptible, to con- 
tinue his Master's work in a higher life for which the toil 
and sufferings here were the Divinely allotted preparation. 



lb N "10 



